Sent out in an email to customers, and written by none other than Apple CEO Tim Cook, it reads, "With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

"While we're improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

"Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard."

Cook also seems to confirm rumours that Apple dropped Google Maps due to Google's refusal to bring voice guided turn-by-turn navigation to IOS, saying, "We wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up."

We can't help but think that Steve Jobs wouldn't have been very happy about all this. µ